The Business Inside: Electric scooter startups are spreading across the US, and raising billions of dollars in venture capital as investors pile into the boom in on-demand transport.
The idea is simple: Startups such as Bird, Lime, Jump, and Spin leave their electric scooters available for hire all over a city. Anyone wanting to use one can find one nearby via an app, “unlock” it with the app, then hire it for a small fee per minute. Once they reach their destination, they can leave the scooter anywhere.
Electric scooters are illegal on public UK streets and pavements, meaning Bird and its rivals would be flouting the law if they tried to launch in Britain. And that’s partly thanks to a 183-year-old act originally designed to stop nuisance behaviour from horse-drawn carriage drivers.
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